


Guilt

by orphan_account



Category: Heroes - Fandom
Genre: Angst, Established Relationship, F/M, Future Fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2008-11-19
Updated: 2008-11-19
Packaged: 2017-10-02 03:18:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 337
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2069
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>They both have their secrets.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Guilt

**Author's Note:**

> Oneshot. He really does love her. Doesn't comply with any canon past season two. (Sylar isn't a Petrelli, never took Claire's power, etc.)

He tiptoes into the bedroom hours late at least once a week, long after she's fallen asleep. Five years, and he's never woken her up. He washes his hands and brushes his teeth, then he slips underneath the covers and turns away from her. He can't bear looking at her sleeping form; the guilt becomes tangible if he does. He always hears her, even when he looks away; the slight rustle of her hair against her pillow as she shifts in her sleep, her peaceful breathing; her heartbeat.

He knows he isn't the only one with a secret. They've been married for six years, and she still hasn't revealed her ability to him. He knows she often considers it, but she's never trusted him enough to let him know what she's capable of. She loves him with all of her heart, but some wise, knowing, unconscious part of her still doubts him. But whenever those thoughts make their way to the front of her mind, he goes out of his way to show her just how much he loves her, or to surprise her with some gift or trinket.

He's become an expert in comforting her. He knows when to keep quiet; when he should just let her cry. He strokes her hair and whispers that he loves her, that it will be all right, and that one day it won't hurt so much. That one day she won't miss her father and brothers so much, and that someday the despicable villain who killed them and so many others she cared about will be brought to justice.

He feels a pang of guilt when he sees her face crumble every time she hears the news that it was one of her friends that died this time. He hates himself because he's reading her mind as she's mourning the mind-reader. She clings to him and weeps into his shoulder and silently asks herself what she would ever do without her Gabriel. And he almost regrets who he's become.


End file.
